The Carnival Master

4.

‘This is it…’ Suzi said. She had insisted that they take her car, which suited Oliver in one way because there had been no taxi driver to identify him. But it also meant that he had no quick getaway. Suzi led him up the stairs and into her apartment. There was a small hall with a number of doors off it, all but one of which were closed. The open door, he could see, led into the bedroom. He waited for her to show him into the lounge, but she guided him directly into the bedroom.

‘What?’ He grinned mischievously. ‘No preliminaries?’ He took in the bedroom. It was surprisingly characterless, almost functional, which was odd, given the size of Suzi’s personality.

‘Maybe a little chat first,’ Suzi said. She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to her. ‘And then we’ll have some fun.’

Oliver sat down. Suzi was beginning to annoy him. He had always seen himself as a predator, but it was almost as if she was leading their dance. Suddenly the situation seemed less appealing to him and Oliver was aware that he was being robbed of much of his enjoyment. He had never fully considered how much of his gratification came from his power over them. And from their horror. Their shock. Their fear.

No, he thought, I will lead this dance. Oliver felt the rage rise inside him. If she did not succumb to exactly what he wanted, then he would smash her face. This was not about her, or her needs: it was about him and his.

‘Have you done this before?’ asked Suzi. Her hair had been coiled up behind her head and she undid it. A glorious red, but much deeper than Sylvia’s, the girl who had introduced him to his own hunger, so many years before.

‘Of course I have,’ he said. ‘Lots of times. Why don’t you get undressed? Let’s get started.’

‘Not yet,’ said Suzi. ‘I want to know if you’ve done this with other girls.’

‘Yes, sure. Loads of them. I told you.’

‘And they enjoyed it?’

‘Well. Maybe not as much as you will. They misunderstood.’

‘They didn’t want you to do it but you did it anyway?’

‘I don’t know… yes, I suppose so. What does that matter?’ Oliver frowned. This was ruining it. What did the stupid bitch have to talk for? He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. ‘You said in your reply that this is what you wanted. Let’s do it.’

‘You want to bite me?’

‘Yes,’ Oliver said, breathless. Lust and anger robbed him of oxygen. ‘I’m going to bite you.’

‘You want to make me bleed and tear flesh from my buttocks?’ Suzi drew closer to him. He could smell her body, her hair. ‘Like you bit the others?’

‘Yes…’ He started to pull at her blouse. He saw the swell of her breast. Full, warm flesh.

‘Not yet,’ she said firmly and pushed him away. ‘Tell me about them…’

‘I hurt them.’ Oliver felt the rage surge in him. ‘I really fucking hurt them and now I’m going to hurt you, you fucking slut!’ he screamed at her. ‘You’re just a tease and a whore, but now I’m going to teach you a real lesson. I’m going to bite you and fuck you and if you’re not quiet I’ll kick the shit out of you.’ He lunged at her, swinging his fist into the side of her face.

The blow didn’t connect. There was a sharp pain on the inside of his forearm where she had blocked the blow, followed by an agonising explosion in his groin as her knee slammed into it. The rage changed to confusion and then to fear as he realised that she had twisted his arm round behind him and slammed him against the wall. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t see much either, with his cheek pushed hard into the wall. There were other noises. Crashes. Shouting. The room filled with dark figures. They had guns. There were other hands on him now. Handcuffs. Suzi spun him around. She pushed the thick copper coils of hair from her face.

‘Now, Hans… now I’ll tell you my real name. Just like I promised. It’s Tansu Bakrac. Criminal Commissar Tansu Bakrac. And you, you perverted piece of shit, are under arrest.’

As they led him out of the flat, Oliver noticed that the doors off the hall were now open. Empty rooms. No furniture. That was where all the other police had been waiting; that was why she had led him directly into the bedroom: it was all a masquerade. They had probably recorded every word he had exchanged with ‘Suzi’ since they met in the hotel.

There were two other plain-clothes police officers waiting in the hall. Of course, Oliver knew the shorter dark-haired one who now looked at him in shock. ‘Suzi’ turned to the taller, blond-haired officer whom Oliver had not seen before and grinned.

‘That was some favour you asked…’